Otis College of Art and Design is pleased to host the Los Angeles Portfolio Day on January 15, 2017 from 12-4pm!

Bring your portfolio for an informal review by representatives from art and design schools, and learn about their programs of study. Portfolio Day events are held across the country, high school students, parents, teachers, guidance counselors and college transfer students are encouraged to attend.

In acoustical engineering, “tuning the room” is a technique for measuring the specific sound properties of an enclosed space and then adapting the environment to improve its acoustic reflections. New York-based artist Anna Craycroft applies this technique both literally and metaphorically to the Ben Maltz Gallery for her exhibition Tuning the Room. Craycroft’s exhibition asks that we consider how the specific characteristics of an environment shape our experience within it, and how we become attuned in return.

Robin Coste Lewis won the National Book Award for Voyage of the Sable Venus. Her writing has appeared in The Massachusetts Review, Callaloo, The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review, Transition: Women in Literary Arts, VIDA, Phantom Limb, and Lambda Literary Review. She has taught at Wheaton, Hunter, Hampshire, and the NYU Low-Residency MFA in Paris. Lewis is a fellow of Cave Canem and of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, as well as a Provost’s Fellow in Poetry and Visual Studies at USC.

Solmaz Sharif’s first collection, Look, was recently published by Graywolf Press and is a 2016 National Book Award finalist. Her poetry has appeared in the New Republic, Granta, Poetry, and other journals. Her first collection, Look, was recently published by Graywolf Press. A former Stegner Fellow, she is currently a lecturer at Stanford University and lives in the Bay Area.

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Which faculty members are eligible to apply?

Full-time and Adjunct faculty members who have taught at Otis for two or more consecutive years are eligible to apply for Faculty Development Grants to support professional activities as part of their pathway toward advancement in Rank. Part-time faculty members are not eligible; part-time faculty, by definition, are engaged professionally beyond Otis, are not subject to the rigors of the Performance Assessment and Step (PAS) process nor Otis' demanding Rank and Promotion (advancement) criteria, and have no Service to the College obligations. The College strives to support those individuals (full-time and adjunct faculty members) who face the rigors menioned above as part of their engagement with the College, and at the same time manage their external professional activities.

How much money can I get, and how often can I apply?

Grants are awarded up to $2,500. Applicants may apply for one award each year, not to exceed $2,500 per person within a two-year period.

What are the due dates?

Grant applications are due on or before the first Monday of November and the first Mondy of March each academic year. Click here for the online Application Form with instructions for submission.

What criteria are used to evaulate my application?

The purpose of the Faculty Development Grants is to guide grantees toward promotion in rank. Therefore, in planning grant applications, faculty members should focus on the three criteria for promotion and advancement in rank: teaching effectiveness, professional achievement, and contributions to the college/community as outlined in your your faculty handbook. Applications that include proposed wider dissemination to the Otis Community (e.g. presentation at department meeting, Academic Assembly addition to the curriculum, etc.) will be prioritized. Grants are awarded based on their value as they relate to the three criteria as well as the project's:

overall quality, which contributes to professional development or to pedagogical growth

feasibility, or the extent of its potential dissemination and impact on the arts community and beyond

clarity and specificity; how the project will contribute to the grantee’s career and/or to the Otis community.

How are the grants paid?

Grant recipients recieve a letter outlining the grant award, and the process by which grants are paid. Since all amounts paid by the College to any individual are taxable, and therefore subject to tax withholdings, Otis preserves maximum grant award amounts for recipients by reimbursing all expenses incurred as part of the grant-funded activity. All grant expense reimbursements are processed upon reciept of the Grantee Report by the Faculty Development Committee Co-Chairs. Please refer to your grant award letter and confer with the Faculty Development Committee Co-Chairs for guidance on how to process your reciepts for reimbursment. Grantee Reports should be ready for publication to the Otis Faculty Development website.

What kinds of activities do the grants support?

You may apply for grant supported travel to a site, research, funding for supplies and materials, hotel costs, meals, services used in the execution of the activity, ground transportation, registration fees, project documentation fees, copying costs, software needs as they relate directly to the project, equipment, participation in professional conferences and workshops, participation in conferences and workshops that support teaching effectiveness related to student learning styles, dealing with classroom issues, developing college activities that support building departmental teamwork, collegiality, and communications, and more.